Illinois lawmakers frustrated by federal tornado aid hurdles

Wednesday

Mar 5, 2014 at 10:28 PM

Chris Kaergard of the Journal Star

WASHINGTON — Regardless of where on the political food chain you ask — local, state, federal —- the big hurdle Illinois had to cross to qualify for post-tornado aid to local governments from Uncle Sam came from a federal regulation that hobbles larger states.

Even after Gov. Pat Quinn’s announcement of a $45 million state government aid package Wednesday, folks were still wondering whether the feds would leave municipalities high and dry, only contributing Federal Emergency Management Agency relief dollars to private property owners and businesses.

Who can help?

There’s only one additional recourse at this time: President Barack Obama could intercede and waive the FEMA requirements and declare the aid available.

“Congressional intent (in FEMA legislation) gives discretion to the president,” U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, said from Capitol Hill. “Whether it’s President Clinton, whether it’s President (George W.) Bush, they have used presidential discretion ... to award disaster declarations to various towns that have not hit the FEMA threshold.”

That’s not to say there wasn’t a full-court press on the administration, though. Schock, along with U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, and Mark Kirk, a Republican, met last month with FEMA administrator Craig Fugate to push the state’s case.

Durbin and Democratic U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos —- whose district includes parts of East Peoria and Pekin —- each directly approached the White House, with Durbin reportedly bringing his request to a staffer in Obama’s inner circle.

“Candidly, I’m very disappointed that the president did not use his discretion to help a region of the country that was clearly devastated and meets every definition of FEMA’s goal,” Schock said. “This isn’t some pork barrel spending or a bridge to nowhere; these are real people.”

But the four lawmakers all agree that passing legislation to fix the FEMA formula penalizing high-population states —- or those with large cities —- would resolve the problem once and for all.

“Unless the FEMA’s formula for determining disaster aid is changed, states like Illinois will continue to be discriminated against in their times of need — and moving forward, this is unacceptable,” Durbin and Kirk said in a joint statement.

“Having seen firsthand the damage these storms caused, there is no doubt our communities deserve federal relief,” Bustos agreed.

She’s co-sponsoring the bill to fix the formula along with Republican Reps. Schock, Adam Kinzinger, Rodney Davis and John Shimkus, and Democratic Rep. Bill Enyart. The measure as introduced actually would make the change retroactive to before the Nov. 17 tornadoes, but such provisions don’t typically make it through the legislative process.

Durbin and Kirk are pushing the companion measure in the Senate, with the impetus for it having actually come in 2012 when the southern Illinois community of Harrisburg was likewise rejected by FEMA for municipal aid and then saw an appeal spiked because of the same larger-state provision, which measures damage on a per-person-in-the-state basis, not county by county.

The argument is that more populous states have a broader tax base and are thus able to help citizens themselves without needing the feds.

However, “the reality is we all pay federal tax dollars,” Schock said. “We all contribute to FEMA’s operational budget. (I) and the congressional delegation strongly believe we should not be put at a competitive disadvantage when disaster strikes.”

Fixing that may prove easier than would be normal in a sclerotic and divided Congress, too. The agency requires congressional reauthorization this year, meaning congressional eyes will already be focusing on operations there.

Money still moving

That’s not to say federal dollars aren’t flowing, though. Of course, individual homeowners and businesses have gotten FEMA money; the yardstick for evaluating those groups is different. But even in the state aid package, federal dollars lurk.

Both Illinois Emergency Management Agency director Jon Monken and Durbin’s office noted that federal Housing and Urban Development funds will be used to the tune of up to $8.1 million to address community housing needs. Absent the tornado recovery, that money might have landed elsewhere in the state.

Washington City Administrator Tim Gleason also said his team continues to explore other ways to capture federal funds. They’ve already reached out to both Bradley University and Eureka College to see if they can get assistance — and potentially interns — to work on processing applications for a host of competitive grant programs.

Chris Kaergard can be reached at ckaergard@pjstar.com or 686-3135. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisKaergard.